MANDALA PROJECT FLAGS AT TOWN HALL

From Maplewood Township:

FLAGS DECORATED DURING THE MAPLEWOOD MANDALA
PROJECT ON DISPLAY AT TOWN HALL

Dozens of colorful Tibetan flags are now on display in the main lobby of the
Maplewood Town Hall located at 574 Valley Street in Maplewood, New Jersey. The
exhibition is free and open to the public from 9:00 am - 4:30 pm Monday - Friday
through October 16.

This impressive collection is the unintended result of an arts and crafts activity
that took place as part of the Maplewood Mandala Project. The public was encouraged
to personalize multi-colored, light cotton flags with words and images that convey
hope, joy, open-mindedness, compassion and good will.  Children old and young
answered the call and adorned the flags with messages that range from profound,
"freedom for my family" to refreshingly innocent, "peace love pancakes".  Taken
together they reflect the spirit of creativity and self-reflection inspired during
the Mandala Project.

The Mandala Project took place from August 10 - 15, 2015 at the Woodland in
Maplewood. Over the course of that week, five Buddhist monks from the Drepung
Loseling Monastery in India took up residence in Maplewood to create an intricate
work of art called a mandala.  Painstakingly constructed using millions of grains of
colored sand, the astounding mandala was swept up by the monks soon after it was
completed, and returned to the earth in an elaborate ritual of prayer and
celebration.

While the mandala itself was short lived, the beautiful banners now on display serve
as a permanent reminder of the remarkable event.

For more information contact the Maplewood Department of Recreation and Cultural
Affairs at 973 763-4202.